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ENROLLED ORIGINAL
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A RESOLUTION
26-355
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
March 3, 2026
To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to require Metropolitan Police
Department officers to document identifying information for all law enforcement officers
present at the scene of an arrest and any use of force in documents supporting an arrest,
including probable cause affidavits.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the “Full Accountability in Arrest Reporting Emergency Declaration
Resolution of 2026”.
Sec. 2. (a) District residents rely on the Metropolitan Police Department (“MPD”) to
ensure public safety while upholding transparency, accountability, and public trust in law
enforcement operations.
(b) MPD officers regularly operate alongside federal law enforcement officers during
joint patrols, task force operations, and coordinated enforcement actions within the District. In
these joint operations, federal law enforcement officers may detain individuals, use force, or
otherwise take enforcement action in the presence of MPD officers.
(c) Current District law requires MPD to prepare arrest reports and probable cause
affidavits documenting arrests conducted by MPD officers but does not clearly require
documentation identifying all law enforcement officers present at the scene, including federal
officers, or documenting uses of force by those officers. This lack of documentation creates gaps
in accountability and prevents the District from maintaining a complete and accurate record of
enforcement actions occurring within its jurisdiction.
(d) Current District law requires the Mayor to release MPD body-worn camera recordings
when an MPD officer is involved in a serious use of force or officer-involved death, subject to
applicable consent and privacy protections. However, there is no clear requirement ensuring
public release of MPD body-worn camera recordings when a serious use of force or officer-
involved death is committed by a federal law enforcement officer in the presence of MPD
officers, even when the incident is captured on MPD body-worn cameras.
(e) As a result, critical footage documenting serious uses of force occurring within the
District may remain undisclosed, undermining transparency and public confidence. Ensuring the
release of MPD-captured body-worn camera footage documenting serious uses of force or
officer-involved deaths, regardless of whether the force was used by MPD officers or federal law
ENROLLED ORIGINAL
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enforcement officers, is essential to promoting transparency, protecting civil rights, and
maintaining public trust.
(f) Immediate legislative action is necessary to require MPD to document all law
enforcement officers present at arrest scenes, document uses of force observed by MPD officers,
and ensure the release of body-worn camera footage documenting serious uses of force captured
by MPD cameras.
(g) Emergency legislation is necessary to ensure transparency and accountability in
ongoing law enforcement operations and to prevent continued gaps in documentation and public
access to critical information involving serious uses of force.
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Full
Accountability in Arrest Reporting Emergency Act of 2026 be adopted after a single reading.
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.